Interview with Carey Green from Podcastification

Carey is a podcaster from Colorado that gave a fantastic talk about how to create better show notes for your podcast.

He also owns a company called Podcast Fast Track (podcastfasttrack.com) that does podcast audio editing and show notes production services.

Carey interviewed me on his podcast and asked some really great questions that got me thinking about why I started podcasting, what the Merchants of Dirt Podcast are all about, and how ordinary people can get into podcasting with just a microphone and a computer.

Key Take Away #1: Can just anyone start building races?

Ironically, most sports with a professional level have this problem.

All the money, fame, and energy are spent pandering to the professional level races with little emphasis placed on the beginner.

Some might say that beginner races are a dime a dozen while professional races — that include championship events — are truly unique productions.

Others may say that professional races attract more media interest, which in turn brings in more sponsors and money.

Regardless of reasons why beginner race promoters are going out of business, without the creation of more, local community off-road racing will eventually die out.

The NFL does not exist without the NCAA, the NCAA does not exist without high-school football, and high-school football would be hard pressed without organizations like Pop Warner.

As for off-road racing’s NFL level events that included World, National, and Regional championships.

If there is no Pop Warner or high school level race promoters, there will be even fewer athletes to race in the NCAA and NFL level adventure races for years to come.

The solution is simple: make off-road race promotion accessible to newbies again.

There is an opening within the outdoor and off-road racing market to capitalize on the beginner-level, small market racing events. This incredible opportunity focuses on capturing the actual largest customer base — the amateur — by producing more races for smaller groups of athletes.

I’m only looking to make a small dent in the universe by teaching this next generation of race promoters how to be successful by removing the obstacles that stand in the way of race promotion education.

Hopefully, I can provide you with the tools you need to start building races.

You can become a race promoter. And more importantly, your sport NEEDS you to become one for it to remain successful.

My hope is that what you learn here each week will help you become that race promoter we all need you to be.

Key Take Away #2: Principles of a Profitable Race

It should not come as a surprise to you that I’m a big fan of off-road racing.

But not a big fan of seeing race promoters struggle and fail.

It’s kind of a big deal to me — and the whole point behind why I started Reckoneer.com and the Merchants of Dirt Podcast.

This is why I want to spend some time talking to you about some of the fundamentals in race promotion

I’ve covered some of these ideas in my earlier episodes that you can find at merchantsofdirt.com, but today I want to talk about a very particular fundamental called a Principle.

What’s a principle you ask?

It’s a fundamental truth that serves as the foundation for a system of behavior.

Or in simpler terms — it’s a standard you base decisions on.

Principle #1 -Start Small: Starting small allows you to make mistakes you can recover from. Leave the need for professional timers or cash purses for when you are ready.

Principle #2 – Stay Simple: Staying simply provides you with an easy-to-manage event that you can keep control of throughout the day. Complexity only complicates your efforts and takes your focus away from what you should be caring about: your customers!

Principle #3 – Show Value: Most racers will pay more than you think, providing that you give them a worthwhile experience in return. This means that you have to give them your best effort based on the kind of race you’ve created.

Bonus Tip

I have been there time and time again, struggling with each of these principles in my own way.

One of my first races was way too big, and it devoured me both physically and financially.

My next race was much smaller and easier to manage but became overly complex in its execution.

Once I figured out how to start small and stay simple, showing value became a natural part of running the race.

However, these are only starting principles.

There are other principles or standards you can add to your promoter’s tool box.

Another principle you could consider is how you deal with customers.

Take an active interest in who they are, why they came to your event, and how they did during the race.

Be active in their experience by getting to know them as people, not just big numbers or dollar signs.

Part of the job of race promotion is acting as the host by making sure everyone is having a good time.

How will you know this if you are distracted or overwhelmed by costs?

You will be surprised how important your active interest is to a racer’s overall experience — especially in a small race.

Some racers find the personal touch of the race promoter to be the number one thing that brings them back to you.

You show value by learning about the experience you provide your racers.

So get out there enjoy what you are building!

And Know you know.

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